Chapter 199 Getting Rich
"It's not convenient to talk about things here, let's go to my house and talk about it." Li Xia said.
"Okay." Editor Zhao and Chief Editor Liu spoke at the same time.
They both took out their letters of introduction and showed them to the soldiers on duty. Then they registered in the register. When they were about to go in, another female comrade came in and asked, "Hello, comrade. Do you know Comrade Li Xiali?"
Li Xia looked her up and down. She was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and looked quite gentle. It seemed that she was working in a literature-related field.
Li Xia guessed that she might also be an editor at the publishing house, so she said, "Hello, I'm Li Xia."
Sure enough, when the female comrade heard that she was Li Xia, she immediately extended her hand to shake her hand and said, "Hello, Comrade Qingzhou. I am the editor-in-chief of Liaoyuan Publishing House. My last name is You. I have read your book Zhao Di and was really moved and felt the same way. All of us at Liaoyuan Publishing House really want to sign the publishing rights for Zhao Di."
"Hello, Editor You, this is not the place to talk. Let's go to my house first and discuss this matter." Li Xia said.
To be honest, from her current impression of these three people, Editor-in-Chief Liu and Editor-in-Chief You are the better ones. However, she still needs to have a detailed discussion before deciding which publishing house to sign with.
Suddenly I felt that it was good that they all got together. Although it was a bit chaotic, they were able to solve all the problems at once.
After the three of them registered together, they followed Li Xia towards the family compound.
After arriving, Li Xia unlocked the door with her key, and Editor Zhao immediately said, "Wow, the yard where a female writer lives is really different. It's so well-kept, and it has a real literary atmosphere."
Li Xia smiled and said, "Please sit wherever you want. I'll go get you some water."
Fortunately, I bought a lot of cups at that time, otherwise I wouldn’t have enough cups to entertain the guests now.
After pouring the water, Li Xia also sat under the grape vines and began to talk about publishing matters.
Editor-in-Chief Liu was the first to speak: "Comrade Li, according to the current publishing fee for novels, it is generally between 3 yuan and 20 yuan per thousand words. Considering the popularity of your novel Zhao Di, our publishing house is willing to buy out your publishing rights at 80 yuan per thousand words."
This is already the late stage of the movement, and it will end completely in October next year. In fact, starting this year, the control over royalties is no longer as strict as in previous years.
In addition, "Zhao Di" is indeed very popular, so Editor-in-Chief Liu offered such a high price, and also wanted to show Li Xia the sincerity of their publishing house.
Editor Zhao glanced at Chief Editor Liu, and obviously didn't expect him to ask for 80 yuan per thousand words, and he was speechless. Because they were just a small publishing house, they couldn't afford so much money.
Li Xia did not immediately agree to Editor Liu's request, but instead put forward her own request:
"It's like this. First, the copyright of Zhao Di is not bought out. Second, I need to sign a publishing contract if it is published. Third, I don't want to be paid per thousand words. I want to take 11% of the royalties from the publication. 10% belongs to me. I want to use the remaining 1% to establish a foundation in my name and in the name of the publishing house to help girls like Zhao Di."
When Chief Editor Liu saw that Chief Editor Zhao and Chief Editor You did not say anything, he thought he had won the game.
After all, this time their publishing house was really sincere, offering 80 yuan per thousand words! It can be said that this is the highest amount of royalties their publishing house has ever offered. Of course, they also saw that Zhao Di was so popular that they knew they would not lose money even if they offered 80 yuan per thousand words, and they also knew that more than one publishing house wanted to publish Zhao Di, so they were willing to pay such a high price.
If Li Xia's novel had not been so popular after being serialized in newspapers, she would never have been able to get such a price.
He thought Li Xia would agree immediately, but he didn't expect her to make three requests, which were particularly demanding.
The copyright is not bought out, that is to say, even though they signed "Zhao Di", the copyright of "Zhao Di" is not in the hands of their publishing house, which means that not only their publishing house can publish "Zhao Di", but other publishing houses can also publish it!
And they also have to collect royalties. If you calculate it this way, it is really not cost-effective compared to the books they published before.
The other books were all bought out by their publishing house in one go, and the copyrights are in their hands. Moreover, a thousand words is a drop in the bucket compared to the price their publishing house paid Li Xia.
He originally thought that their publishing house could offer a high price of 80 yuan per thousand words and that they would definitely be able to acquire the copyright of "Zhao Di". However, he did not expect that the author was too greedy.
"Comrade Li, your condition is too harsh." Editor-in-Chief Liu's face looked unhappy.
At this moment, Chief Editor You, who had been silent, said, "Comrade Qingzhou, our publishing house agrees to all your requests.
In fact, before I left, our publishing house held a general meeting to discuss how much remuneration should be given to you, but we couldn't come to a conclusion. In the end, our leader said that as long as your suggestions do not exceed our highest expectations, we will agree. "
"Zhao Di is really a good novel. I work in the publishing industry and have read many novels, but none of them has touched my heart so much. Of course, maybe it's because I have the same experience, so I can empathize more. I forgot to tell you my full name, my name is You Zhao Di."
Editor-in-Chief You said with a smile.
The New Evening News was not published in the city where their publishing house was located, but she learned about the novel Zhao Di through a friend and asked someone to send her the newspaper. After reading it, she decided to sign Zhao Di no matter what.
When Li Xia heard Editor-in-Chief You's final self-introduction, she was stunned for a moment, and then she couldn't help but smile at her.
The fact that Editor-in-Chief You can be the editor-in-chief shows that she is just like Zhaodi in her works.
Finally, Li Xia signed a contract with Liaoyuan Publishing House. Editor-in-Chief You was very optimistic about Zhao Di and said that their publishing house planned to print 250,000 copies in the first print run.
At that time, the price of a novel was about one yuan. Li Xia calculated in his mind and found that the price of the first print alone was as high as more than 20,000 yuan. He immediately took a breath.
She is about to become a millionaire!
When Gu Weicheng came back in the evening, Li Xia handed the contract to him.
"What is this?" Gu Weicheng asked as he took the contract and took a look at it. "Publishing contract. Is Zhao Di going to be published?"
"Well, look below again." Li Xia pointed to the place with numbers.
Gu Weicheng looked over and found that it said the first print run was 250,000 copies, and the remuneration was calculated as a 10% royalty. He was not a writer and had never understood what royalties were, but he could understand that Li Xia could get 10% for every book sold.
According to the current price of a book, this would be more than 20,000 yuan in royalties?
Gu Weicheng quickly returned the contract and said, "Wife, please keep this away and hide it. Don't tell anyone else, not even An An."
An An is a sensible child who can keep a secret in most cases, but children are just children after all, and it would not be good if someone tricked her into revealing the secret.
"I know. I understand the principle of not showing off your wealth. I'm just so happy that I want to share it with you." Li Xia raised his chin slightly while speaking, with a bit of pride.
Indeed, being a millionaire in the 1970s was something to be proud of.
Well, although the money has not been received yet.
"My wife is the best." Gu Weicheng praised earnestly, "I will reward you well."
"Hmm? Reward?" Li Xia's eyes showed confusion, "What reward?"
Then, Gu Weicheng kissed Li Xia on her pink lips: "If the leader wants more rewards, it's not impossible."
Li Xia: “…”
Tsk, this man has learned all the tricks she uses to coax him!
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